Post-error adjustments occur in both reaching and grasping.

Abstract

Post-error slowing (PES), the tendency to slow down a behavioral response after a previous error, has typically been investigated during simple cognitive tasks using response time as a measure of PES magnitude. More recently, PES was investigated during a single reach-to-grasp task to determine where post-error adjustments are employed in a more ecological setting. Kinematic analyses in the previous study detected PES during pre-movement planning and within the grasping component of movement execution. In the current study (N = 22), we increased the cognitive demands of a reach-to-grasp task by adding a choice between target and distractor locations to further explore PES, and other post-error adjustments, under different task conditions. We observed a significant main effect of task condition on overall reaction time (RT); however, it did not significantly impact PES or other post-error adjustments. Nonetheless, the results of this study suggest post-error adjustment is a flexible process that can be observed during pre-movement planning and within the onset and magnitude of the reaching component, as well as in the magnitudes of the grasping component. Considering the sum of the results in the context of existing literature, we conclude that the findings add support to a functional account of error reactivity, such that post-error adjustments are implemented intentionally to improve performance.